Official PlayStation Magazine 176 (Sampler)

ISSUE 176 gamesradar.com/opm

ESSENTIAL

38 NEXT-GEN GAMES + FIRST GAMEPLAY SCREENS

THE LAST OF US PART II 53 reasons why you need Sony’s PS4 exclusive

COMING TO PS5

Sharpen your axe for Ubisoft’s Nordic next-gen debut PS5 REVS UP

DIRT 5 VS WRC 9 The rally racing giants go

tyre-to-tyre on PlayStation 5

IT ’S A HIT

MAFIA REMADE

The classic GTA-alike comes to PS4, and it’s breathtaking

HIGHLIGHTS The big story

006 UNREAL ENGINE 5 004

The engine that’ll fuel the next generation’s games, shown first running on PS5.

The big 10

010 MAFIA TRILOGY All three games to be re-released, with a ground-up remake for the first. review

034 DIRT 5 Getting mucky never looked as good as it does on PS5 – plus two of our favourite voices.

Feature

050 ASSASSIN’S CREED VALHALLA Brush your beard and polish your axe; we’ve looted all the details of the next Creed.

Feature

060 THE LAST OF US PART II Still need a reason to get excited about this one? We’ve got 53 reasons to be enthused. review

070 PREDATOR: HUNTING GROUNDS Illfonic cooked up a story and dropped the four of us into a meat grinder…

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S E C T I O N S AT A G L A N C E

THE BIG 10

PREVIEWS

All the hottest news Latest info, screens and playtests and biggest games 010

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FEATURES

REVIEWS

NETWORK

RETRO STATION

To-the-point, detailed analysis

In-depth verdicts on every big new game

Max out your PS4, online and off

Classics revisited

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THE Games index 078 ARCADE SPIRITS 050 ASSASSIN’S CREED VALHALLA 090 BIOSHOCK 048 BUBBLE BOBBLE 4 FRIENDS 022 CHORUS 023 CYGNI: ALL GUNS BLAZING 074 DAYMARE 1998 018 DESTROY ALL HUMANS! 034 DIRT 5 086 FALLOUT 76 089 FINAL FANTASY XIV: SHADOWBRINGERS – REFLECTIONS IN CRYSTAL 048 FIRST CLASS TROUBLE 042 GUILTY GEAR STRIVE 078 JOHN WICK HEX 038 LIBERATED 048 LITTLE TOWN HERO 010 MAFIA: TRILOGY 046 MOONRAY 080 MOTOGP 20 076 MOVING OUT 048 PORT ROYALE 4 070 PREDATOR: HUNTING GROUNDS 024 PSYHOTEL SIMULATOR 088 REMNANT: FROM THE ASHES – SWAMPS OF CORSUS 048 REMOTHERED: BROKEN PORCELAIN 084 RESIDENT EVIL RESISTANCE 040 RESOLUTIION 075 SAKURA WARS 015 SCARLET NEXUS 039 SONG OF HORROR 074 STRANDED DEEP 079 STREETS OF RAGE 4 081 TELLING LIES 060 THE LAST OF US PART II 014 THE LORD OF THE RINGS: GOLLUM 078 THE WALKING DEAD: SAINTS AND SINNERS 020 TONY HAWK’S PRO SKATER 1+2 074 TRIALS OF MANA 047 VADER IMMORTAL: A STAR WARS VR SERIES 016 WRC 9

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UNREAL ENGINE 5 ON PS5 GODFALL

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Epic Games has worked closely with Sony to develop Unreal Engine 5. Is this what all PS5 games will look like?

UNREAL ENGINE 5 ON PS5

PS5 IS UNREAL

Epic Games demos Unreal Engine 5 in real time on PlayStation 5. Take your first look at the next gen in action

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he walks firmly into a craggy canyon and the camera pans around and zooms in on the rocks to our left, which look tangibly real. Though she’s performing the moves of a familiar tomb-raiding icon, scurrying and clambering about

the photoreal world, this is no game. This is Epic Games showcasing Unreal Engine 5, the new toolset almost every developer will tap into in the next generation, and it’s running in real time on PlayStation 5.

This is a tease of what Sony’s next gen can achieve.

One of Epic Games’ goals is to deliver the kind of photorealism we’ve become accustomed to in film CG and VFX. The broader aim is to ensure every developer of any size can get these results.

“EVERY DEVELOPER OF ANY SIZE CAN GET THESE RESULTS.”

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The Big10 STORIES EVERYONE’S TALKING ABOUT

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THE MAFIA REMAKE FEATURES AN UPDATED SCRIPT, NEW CUTSCENES, AND ADDITIONAL GAMEPLAY SEQUENCES.

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Car chases in 1920s Mafia are thrilling. Few games have managed to capture atmosphere like this classic.

14 IT’S PRECIOUS

PS5’s Gollum finally emerges.

16 RALLY GOOD

WRC 9 speeds onto next gen.

20 GRIND AND GRIN

Tony Hawk 1 and 2 remade for PS4.

TheBig10 STORIES EVERYONE’S TALKING ABOUT

2K’s making an offer we don’t want to refuse

The original Mafia is being remade from the ground up, and we love it 2K is turning back the clock on its 18-millionselling American gangster series with Mafia: Trilogy. Created by 2K’s narrative specialists at Hangar 13, this collection of remasters and remakes will bring Mafia and Mafia II to PlayStation 4 for the first time, as well as delivering a revamped edition of Mafia III. While you can grab Mafia II and Mafia III Definitive Editions digitally from the PS Store right now, you’ll have to wait until 28 August for the physical release of Mafia: Trilogy and the ground-up remake of the original Mafia – the real reason to get excited about Hangar 13’s handiwork.

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MADE (AGAIN) MAN It’s been 16 years since Mafia sped and shot its way onto PlayStation 2.

The same year we glided through Grand Theft Auto: Vice City listening to Flock Of Seagulls we also took to

the richly detailed streets of Lost Heaven and Duke Ellington was our jam of choice.

The incredible-looking remake of the first game is the trilogy’s clear draw, hence you need to wait for it.

Mafia’s storyline follows cab driver Tommy Angelo as he rises up within the Salieri crime family. It hits all the American-Dream-gone-bad notes you’d expect from a game inspired

by The Godfather.

This PlayStation 4 overhaul is comparable in scope with the likes of Resident Evil 2’s extensive remake. Hangar 13 has built a new game engine to power the remade gangster epic, and it shows in the reflective rain-soaked streets, the period-perfect car models, and the incredibly accurate character detail.

The Mafia remake also features an updated script, brand-new in-engine cutscenes, and additional gameplay sequences that never made it into the original game.

Though we’ve enjoyed many criminal capers over the years, few games have managed to capture the atmosphere of a particular moment

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PREVIEW

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Dirt 5 brings back bumper-tobumper simcade racing, and it’s heading to PlayStation 5 (and PS4) this year.

PREVIEW

“NOLAN NORTH AND TROY BAKER WILL MENTOR YOU IN DIRT 5.”

FORMAT PS4, PS5 / ETA OCT 2020 PUB CODEMASTERS / DEV CODEMASTERS

DIRT 5

Codemasters is preparing to get mucky on PlayStation 5 Prepare to get dirty like you’ve never done before as Codemasters’ premier rally-racer series powerslides onto next gen with an optimised PlayStation 5 version joining the PlayStation 4 release.

After all, is there a better way to showcase the features of a new console than with a racer? No, and so the tradition continues this October.

With Dirt 5 Codemasters is promising a racer that takes in some of the world’s most exotic locations (which feels like a tease given our current lockdown), and a variety of rally-based race styles. It’s being voiced by veteran videogame actors Nolan North and Troy Baker. This racer has narrative pretensions, and characters voiced by the duo memorable for their banter in Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End will mentor you through Dirt 5’s Career mode. Who doesn’t want rally tips from Nate and Sam Drake? We’ve come a long way from Colin McRae. Though you’ll be put to the test by Career mode’s variety of event types and tough terrain, you can express yourself off the track. A livery editor offers more customisation options than any previous Dirt entry. The new game also features a non-linear progression path, ensuring you can take on more of the events you love when you want.

ARCADE TYRE

It’s clear that this sequel is aiming to deliver spectacle, with the rallying set against a backdrop

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ASSASSIN’S CREED VALHALLA VAL

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ASSASSIN’S CREED VALHALLA

GROUNDING THE VIKING FANTASY Narrative director Darby McDevitt reveals the influences that will make Assassin’s Creed Valhalla the perfect saga for now and the next gen

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53 REASONS WHY IT’LL CLICK Still undecided about The Last Of Us Part II? We’ve got all the reasons you need to look forward to 19 June 060

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ELLIE AND THE FOUR SEASONS

Like the first game, The Last Of Us Part II changes with the seasons.

Trailers and hands-on time with the game reveal very different climates and environmental changes. It seems the world will reflect the mood of the story. Who will we play as? Who’s the villain? Who lives and who dies?

These questions will be answered when you play it on 19 June.

One big difference this time is technical: Naughty Dog is able to represent the different seasons even

better visually because this game has been developed for PS4, late in the console’s life cycle, and the developer understands the tech perfectly.

It seems that the game will begin in winter, time progressing as Ellie makes her way north to Seattle. Most of the travelling we’ve seen so far has had Ellie and her companions on horseback, riding through lush forests, golden fields, and deep snow. We’ll go

beyond ruined cities to see even more rural areas this time.

In the wintry portions of the game we’ve seen how Ellie leaves footprints

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THE LAST OF US PART II

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HORSING AROUND

Horseriding returns and it looks like it might be a bigger feature this time around. In previews we’ve seen Ellie on horseback across multiple seasons and environments, trekking through green forests and white snow. Many years after society fell apart, is this now the predominant means of long-distance transportation?

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WEATHER REPORT

and pushes clumps of snow aside as she moves, suggesting it’s possible enemies can use these tracks to hunt her down as she tries to avoid being detected by her pursuers.

Not only does the game take place during various seasons, the weather effects are some of the best we’ve seen on PS4. The weather in turn affects how Ellie has to wrangle with the environment, so she gets muddy as she crawls through undergrowth.